I spent all day Saturday in a pool hall. Pool tournaments make great places to watch very different people interacting with each other. College students with retirees, farmers with mechanical engineers, rappers with metal heads, volunteer firefighters with soccer moms, writers with, well, everyone. It was cultural chaos. That, and I have never heard such an eclectic slurry of music on the juke box: country, dance, hip-hop, pop, puke rock (as my wife calls bands such as Nickelback), metal, thrash, punk, reggae…
Of course I took a lot of notes. That’s just what writers do. I have been desperately trying to finish no less than two novels and three short stories. I had hoped to make that final push on at least one of them this weekend. Unfortunately, the stories did not cooperate. As I compiled my notes at 3 A.M., instead of putting finishing touches on final scenes, I found myself writing an entirely different story, one in stark contrast with the others, almost like those sordid characters in the pool hall. The new story kept me up most of the night pondering the endless possibilities and feverishly typing notes for scenes and themes.
In the end, my team lost the tournament and I didn’t play particularly well. But at least I met some new characters and I am enjoying piecing their story together.
Other random musings from this weekend:
- I consumed 13 shots of espresso on Friday. That might be a personal record.
- The Penguins better win tonight. And yes, I will be missing Game of Thrones to watch, so don’t spoil anything for me tomorrow.
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